Forming an Industrial Council for the Industry.
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WHILST there seems to be an extreme difficulty in forming a Whitley Council for the 'motor manufacturing trade, the, road transport industry does not suffer under the same disability, and there is every prospect of agreement being reached by representatives of the employers' associations and the workers'.associations when they meet in the course of the next fortnight.
On another page in this issue we are able to give the draft constitution of the projected Joint Industrial Council of the Read Transport Industry, drawn up by h committee which is representative of both sides, so that the basis of successful negotiation is there already. In the drafting of the objects and constitution of the proposed Council, these have met representatives (on the employers' side) of the National Alliance of Commercial Road Transport Associations and Federations, the Motor Transport Employers' Federation, and the National Union of Horse and Motor Vehicle Owners, and (on the workers' side) of the National Transport Workers' Federation, covering seven other workers' organizations.
. We observe, from the draft constitution, that the primary object of the Council is to secure the largest possible measure of joint action between employers and workpeople, for the development of the industry as a part of our national life, and for the improvement of the conditions of all engaged in that industry.
Besides providing for regular consideration and determination of wages, hours and working conditions in the industry as a whole, discussion and action on such matters as terminal delays at docks, wharves and warehouses -will be possible, under the constitution as projected, for it is clearly desirable that the Industrial Council for Road Transport should be in a position to have some say in speeding up. We observe, too, that Article 10 of the Objects pro vides for the consideration of measures for the improvement of the health conditions obtaining in the industry and the provision of special treatment, where necessary, for workers in the industry. There is, without doubt, ample opportunity for measures of this kind, because transport work is essentially out-of: doors work in all weathers. Many ideas of an imprac ticable character have been put forward for the amelioration of the conditions under which the -work has to be conducted, but that it is not impassible to effect substantial improvement our own columns have, from time to time, amply demonstrated. Our pages are always open to the accommodation of suggestions of this naturesancl, if any new points suggest themselves to , our readers for adoption under Article 10, we should be glad to. know of them and to put them forward for consideration.
Motor Fuel and the Need for Government Action.
HILST, of course, the commercial vehicle user (so far as his pocket is affected) is not deeply concerned in the question of the need or advisability of abandoning the extra, tax,of 6d. per gallon, which was, in effect, imposed by the Finance Act, of 1916, as a. means of restricting consumption and not ostensibly for revenue purposes, it is certainly desirable that he .should support the efforts now being put forward to secure the withdrawal of the tax.
The existence of this tax does not restrict consumption one iota : it is objectionable ; it involves a vast amount of labour and trouble and entails the maintenance of a Government department, the staff of which would be far better engaged in doing useful work. The licensing and rationing scheme is an incubus and in restraint of trade, and its abandonment will not cause consumption of motor spirit materially to increase, certainly not to the degree at which prices will tend to rise. But, whilst the eXistence of the original tax, imposed by the Finance Act of 1909-1910, and doubled in the year 1915, is acceptable, it is so only by reason of the fact that, in thus providing the sinews of war for road improvement, the motor-vehicle community has a voice in the matter of road condition and road reform. But, there is not the slightest need for any further direct contribution on that score, as every extra item of expenditure tends to reduce the advantage. which motor road transport, by reason of its general efficiency, offers over rival means of transportation. The operations of the Petrol Control Department will shortly cease, and as there is no assurance that the super-tax is to be remitted co-incidently therewith, the Treasury is being pressed either to make a statement of the Government intentions in the matter, or to receive a deputation to lay arguinents why the tax should be cancelled.
On benzole a good deal requires to be done to secure the continued production of this fuel. The production from gasworks alone, last year, was approximately over 6,000,000 gallons, whilst it is estimated that, if all the gasworks scrubbed their gases, the total output of benzole from this source would make over 21,000,000 gallons obtainable from, coal. The output from other plant last year has been stated to be 15,000,000 gallons, so that, provided markets exist or can be found for all the other products of .coking, there is a potential output in this country of 36,000,000 gallons, only calling for an extensive system of distribution, independent of petrol„interests, to become a great'steadying,influence on the prices of motoefuel, as well as proyidind
the country with a valuable source of home-produced spirit as a safeguard against future enemy action. 'We are glad to see that pressure towards these ends is being put upon the Government, and that the Parliamentary Road Transport Committee is being kept fully posted upon a matter which we regard as of vital importance to the country.
The Timing of London Bus Services.
•E LSEWHERE IN this issue we give a summary of some very interesting views expressed by Sir Albert Stanley on subjects connected with . inoterbus traffic. In the matter of maxim-Um legal, speeds, the public is apt to jump to the conclusion that the buses travel always as fast as they are allowed to no or perhaps a little faster, and that the drivers are in a continual state 'Of trying to get a bit of extra speed out of the bus to make up for lost time.
In order to show how faulty this view is, it is only necessary to consider the steps that are taken in drawing up the time-table of a well-organized bus company like the L.G.O.C. First the route to be followed is laid out on ordnance sheets and measured up. The measurements are then checked from point to point along the actual route by an instrument called a rotameter. This is a perambulating measuring wheel which is pushed along the road by an inspector. The measurement is taken along the route in each direction, so as to cheek its accuracy. The outline of the time-table for the route is then prepared by a special organization known asthe Speed and Timing Department of the company. The first step is to cover the route several times in a motorbus at different times of the day in erder to -observe the obstruction caused by other traffic, to note crossings and stopping places, and to determine the speed that can reasonably be expected in each section with due regard to public safety. After this investigation, a time-table is constructed and put into effect for the time being. Its. suitability is, however, checked under actual service conditions on several occasions and any desirable adjustments are then introduced. Moreover, any driver is free to make representations as to the timing of his route, and these are investigated by the special department. Our own criticism on this system is that it is too inflexible. The result is that in the evenings, when passengers are few and stops fewer and shorter and the roads are clear, time cannot help being made up, and the result is that the driver at about a mile from his terminus begins to dawdle so that he shall not be in before his time. Many bus termini are at railway stations, and we have, to take an example, often found the bus journey from the Bank to Liverpool Street to occupy seven minutes -for a three minutes journey. Thia would occasion the loss of a train and a wait for 30 to 45 minutes for the next. Many passengers prefer to walk a short distance and to make sure of their trains to risk paying a bus fare only to find that they have had the bad luck to get on a dawdling vehicle.
It is inconceivable that any company taking such care would in the end arrange a time-table such that the speeds involved amounted to a menace to the safety of the public. Frequent accidents are all against the reputation and interest of the company. Thus, it would seem that the continuance of an arbitrary speed limit is redundant wherever the operating concerns are sufficiently responsible to. guarantee that a process as complete as that described. shall in every ease be a preliminary to the establishment of a new bus service.
Bus Speed Limits in Other Lands.
WHEN CONSIDERING the speed limits for motor omnibuses a good deal is to be learned by comparing the London regulations with those of great cities in other lands. In London, the motor omnibus carries 34 passengers and its maximum laden weight is 6 tons,
B22 the unladen weight being 3i. tons. The speed limit is, at present, 12 miles an hoar. In Paris, the buses are of the single-deck variety. Twenty-eight seats are provided in two compartments and seven passengers are allowed to stand on the platform in the rear, which thus serves more or less as a smoking compart ment. This gives a total of :35 passengers. The weight of the vehicle empty is 5 tons and fully laden tons. The maximum legal speed is 131 miles an hour. Some of the services work on very hilly routes and over had roads, and the maximum speed is undoubtedly very much exceeded on certain sectors. The type of bus used in Berlin has a maximum seating_ accommodation of 46. It is a -double-decked ve hicle with an unladen weight of 44 tons and a fully laden weight of 74 -tons. The speed limit is 154 miles an hour. In New York, there are omnibuses in opera
tion similar to the London type .but larger. The passenger-carrying capacity is 44 and the fally-laden weight is 7 tons. Any speed not in excess of 20 raPes an flour is permitted. Thus) we find that, though the London omnibus is the lightest of all, its legal speed is the lowest. So
far aa lightness is advantageous from the point of view of the roads, the London vehicle represents the most refined type, having the highest ratio of passenger carrying capacity to weight unladen. London buses do a far bigger bulk of business than do those of any other cities mentioned. The business to be done is capable of immense further extension in the public interest, but the work is carried on under more restrictive conditions than are enforced in other countries. Incidentally, no official recognition appears to have been given to the fact that the temporary war-time regulations permitting five standing passengers to be carried are more or less equivalent to raising the maximum laden weight by about 74 owts., without raising the unladen weight. In point of fact the average weight of a motor omnibus working in London during the last year or so has undoubtedly been at least half-a-ton greater than the average working weight four or five years ago, because the buses are much more often completely filled with passengers. So far as we know, there is no evidence to show any injury to the roads resulting from the war-time regu
lations and conditions so far as the vehicles themselves are concerned. Any injurious effect would have become noticeable very rapidly because of the difficulty of arranging for road maintenance. Thus, it would seem that there are new and strong arguments in favour of the conclusion that an addition of
some half-ton to the weight of motor ontnibuees would have no injurious consequences. On the contrary, it would probably be beneficial provided that the extra weight went mainly in the provision of longer springs and larger wheels.
The Oil Engine Myth.
FROM TIME TO TIME schemes are adumbrated in the Press for the installation in commercial vehicles of super-Diesel and other engines consuming crude oil. These installations• are acclaimed because they are to involve a great reduction in fuel costs.
While there is no doubt at all that hot-bulb and Diesel engines have long ago established their reliability, and have come to be regarded as dependable prime-movers, there is always one factor that must seriously militate against their use in road vehicles. This factor is their greater weight per horse-power, which may be anything from two to three times that of the refined-fuel engine in the case even of the comparatively light hot-bulb engine.
The weight of Diesel engines, of course, is very much greater. This extra weight is due partly to the fact that the higher pressures incidental to oil engine cycles necessitate a more robust and consequently heavier construction. But the disparity is mainly due to the circumstance that the thermal conditions of . engines btirning crude petroleum debar them from exceeding a maximum revolittion speed of Abut 400 or 450 r.p.m. The average paraffin or petroleum engine has a revolution speed of 1000, which can be increased considerably in certain designs and under certain conditions.
Bearing in mind that, within very narrow limits, horse-power is 'proportional to revolution speed, -it is easily seen that the crude-oil engine labours under a serious disadvantage. Its favourable fuel costs do not nearly compensate for the great increase of weight that would be involved in its adoption. It is interesting to note that, evenjif oil engines could be used for lorries, the kind of control with wthich petrol drivers are so familiar would have to give place to something else. Petrol engines ai'e extremely flexible, and even paraffin engines can be throttleddown to something under 200 r.p.m. But hot-bulb and Diesel engines cannot be made to vary their speed of revolution in accordance with the will of the driver ; they must revolve, within very narrow limits, at a constant r.p.m. This means that the speed of the vehicle would have to he controlled either electrically or through some form of standard gearing.